Although Nancy Pelosi is speaker of the House, it is freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) who truly sets policy within the Democrat-majority House of Representatives. But after a Tuesday tweet from the Democratic-socialist, it looks like Ocasio-Cortez controls the upper chamber of Congress, as well.
When Sen. John Brassarro (D-NY) asked why Senate Democrats decided to “duck a vote” on the Green New Deal, the 29-year-old congresswoman was very clear: “Because I encouraged them to vote present,” she explained.
Who runs the world?
Ocasio-Cortez — or AOC, as she is known on Twitter — has been an elected official for fewer than 90 days. But during that short time, it is difficult to overstate the powerful position she has staked for herself among Democratic Party elites.
Difficult — but not impossible. AOC certainly embellished her stature within the progressive pecking order when she told supporters earlier this month, “I’m the boss! How about that?”
She was complaining about the criticism she faced for her budget-busting Green New Deal, a delusional plan that would radically transform the U.S. economy in pursuit of an environmentalist pipe dream. “So people are like, ‘Oh it’s unrealistic. Oh it’s vague. Oh it doesn’t address this little minute thing.’ And I’m like, ‘You try. You do it. Cuz you’re not. Cuz you’re not,” AOC declared.
The boss lady
Until Democrats come up with a proposal to fix the cataclysmic environmental changes Ocasio-Cortez predicts, she is in charge of setting policy moving forward. At least, that’s the way AOC sees it, and she’s not alone.
“And in less than two months, Ocasio-Cortez has basically convinced the entire leadership of the Democratic Party to buy into this plan, to ratify it,” explained Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson. “It’s a perfect plan. It would shut down the entire American economy, except for the hedge funds that fund Democratic campaigns. Absolutely perfect.”
Carlson clarified exactly how the Democratic Party arrived at this inconceivable moment, where a 29-year-old bartender has become the de facto House leader, stating, “It’s a measure of how cowardly impassive everyone has become all of a sudden that a chorus of right-thinking Democrats hasn’t told this idiotic windbag to be quiet and take a seat. Don’t talk until you learn something. But of course, nobody has done that. They are all too afraid of her.”
Unfortunately, Democrats in the House aren’t the only lawmakers following the lead of the upstart socialist legislator from Queens. If Ocasio-Cortez is to be believed, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is also taking his marching orders from her.
Ocasio-Cortez isn’t even old enough to run for president in the 2020 election, but her far-left policy proposals are being enthusiastically embraced by most of the Democratic senators who are old enough to oppose President Donald Trump. Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez called her “the future of our party.”
Not so fast
But does that mean AOC is really in control of the upper chamber and telling senior lawmakers like Chuck Schumer how to vote? Hardly.
Tuesday’s Senate vote on the Green New Deal would have forced Democrats to go on the record supporting a policy that outlaws modern conveniences like air travel and gas-powered automobiles. Nobody wants to be associated with a non-binding resolution that promises such unrealistic extravagances as free college, federal job guarantees, and a paycheck for all Americans who are “unable or unwilling to work.”
“By the end of the Green New Deal resolution (and accompanying fact sheet) I was laughing so hard I nearly cried,” conservative journalist Kim Strassel wrote. “If a bunch of GOPers plotted to forge a fake Democratic bill showing how bonkers the party is, they could not have done a better job. It is beautiful.”
While many congressional Democrats were willing to pay the resolution lip-service in the beginning, early support for the bill faded quickly as Americans came to grips with the costs associated with the harebrained scheme.
“The fact that no Democrat was willing to go on record as supporting the resolution, despite the fact that it was co-sponsored by six presidential candidates, on the surface, represents some pushback against the idea of growing momentum for this unrealistic proposal,” concluded Washington Examiner editor Philip Klein.
AOC may be “the boss,” but she isn’t in charge of Congress. The Democratic-socialist rules over a social media empire populated by her radical left-wing subjects. That is just enough to convince some members of her party that she deserves to be heard — for now.
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